Increasing- Acts 9.35

So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing.

What an amazing report! What a joy it would have been to be part of that movement. I am led to wonder though, is the reverse of this principle also true? I know it may sound negative, but living through a time when the church seems to be decreasing, I simply wonder if it is because we have failed to continue in the fear of the Lord and the comfort of the Holy Spirit? Is the reverse application of a truth always true?

Truly, as a church, speaking in very general terms, it appears we have lost our fear of the Lord over the years and have focused on His softer qualities. He’s no longer the God of Wrath regarding evil, as the entire Bible describes Him, but more the soft, easy, totally accepting friend who understands and supports us in whatever we choose to do. We quench the Holy Spirit by ignoring His promptings in our hearts and His guidance through the Scriptures and the church flounders. Our culture in turn ignores us. Our light is dim. Our salt is no longer salty. The church has become ice melt material to be trampled on by secular forces who have taken control. At least this is how I perceive it and, as our secular culture teaches, perception is reality. (No, I do not truly believe that statement.)

If this is the case, however, the answer to our milieu is direct – we must submit again to the truth of this passage. We must return to a place where we truly fear God’s wrath for sin. We must be afraid to endure the anger of God toward the evil in our lives. We must look at the blackness of sin in our hearts and stand in righteous fear of the One who could squash us in an instant but instead chooses to forgive the contrite heart. The keyword is contrite. Feeling or expressing pain or sorrow for sins or offenses. Fearing the judgement of God for our sin actually puts us in the place of receiving His forgiveness and thus walking in gratitude. It’s simple to understand but more difficult to accomplish. We must walk in reverence for Father God and deny sin in every form regardless of how our culture or the ‘compromised church’ defines things. Submitting ourselves and His true church to this truth may bring suffering but it is our only hope.

Secondly, we must once again seek the comfort of the Holy Spirit, which, as far as I can see, only comes through obedience to His promptings and submitting to the Living Word of God manifest in the Written Revelation; aka the Bible. It is the Holy Spirit who takes this Word and convicts us of sin. We must be willing to submit to Him if we are to enjoy His comfort. His eternal, spiritual comfort outweighs any temporary, earthly comfort.

Ultimately, the Holy Spirit always serves to point us to Jesus Christ. His mission is to glorify Christ. Thus, as we begin to submit to His leading we will begin to truly exalt Jesus again and walk in the comfort that only comes to us because of the sacrifice of Lord Jesus.

Isaiah 53:6
All of us, like sheep, have gone astray,
Each of us has turned to his own way;
But the LORD has caused the wrongdoing of us all
To fall on Him.

May our loving Father continue to have mercy on flimsy followers such as ourselves. May we never lose sight of His wrath for sin. May we never lose touch with His blessed Holy Spirit. May we always walk in gratitude for the gift of His Son. ‘He who endures to the end will be saved…..’